Wireless Handheld Whole-Body Ultrasound Scanner Helps Accurately Diagnose and Treat Patients at Bedside

This device allows doctors and nurses to quickly visualize internal structures to make precise diagnoses and treatment decisions right at the patient's bedside.

Clarius (Vancouver, BC, Canada) has unveiled the new Clarius PAL HD3, a wireless handheld whole-body ultrasound scanner that features both phased and linear arrays in one single scanning head. This enables superior image quality and incredible versatility for immediate imaging of superficial to deep anatomical structures, all while at the bedside. The device is about the size of an iPhone and is compatible with both iOS and Android devices, making it highly portable and easy to move from one patient to another.

What sets the Clarius PAL HD3 apart is its unmatched frequency range, allowing it to provide high-definition images from the skin surface to as deep as 40 cm. This eliminates the need for medical staff to switch devices or lug around larger equipment between rooms, an invaluable feature in high-pressure settings like emergency departments. The scanner has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is the latest addition to Clarius's range of specialized wireless handheld ultrasound devices.

The Clarius scanners are built with 192 piezoelectric crystals, known for delivering top-notch image quality. Unlike most handheld devices, which commonly use 1 to 2 beamformers, Clarius employs advanced 8 beamformer processing technology. This is the same technology found in more sophisticated, traditional systems, and offers up to eight times the speed and performance of other handheld scanners. This leads to clearer, more detailed images, which in turn allows for more accurate and prompt patient care.

"Although Clarius is the specialty handheld company, we recognize there's still a broad market for a single, versatile device that supports multiple exams and broad clinical applications especially for hospitals, where more clinicians are using handheld ultrasound as they move from patient to patient," said Kris Dickie, VP of R&D at Clarius who led the project from ideation to commercialization. "When we looked at the broader landscape of who was using our HD3 devices, we were inspired to design a whole-body ultrasound device with better image quality, performance, and usability than what was currently available."

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